Jared Allen is healthy and ready to play in 2013. After undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum and a torn meniscus plus rehabbing a stress fracture, Allen is finally feeling back to his old self. Despite not receiving a contract extension in the offseason, Allen is ready to return to his pass rushing ways with a few goals in mind for 2013.
Allen returned to football pads on Monday, just six months are undergoing the surgeries. With health on the rise, Allen has remained adamant that his playing days are far from over and he will be the dominant pass rusher once again this year.
"I don't buy into '30 and you're old,'" said Allen to USATODAY Sports. "I feel it's just like anything - it's geared towards how you take care of your body, how you mentally prepare for the game and obviously having a coach that manages you well, too. But I do feel like I'm back there. I feel that's where I'm at mentally, physically, and I feel like we have a team that can even make it better."
Now entering his 10th season in the NFL, Allen is targeting the single-season sack record originally set by Michael Strahan after he recording 22 ½ sacks in a season. Allen came close to the record originally set in 2011. He finished with 22 sacks on the season 19 months ago while deals with an injured shoulder and receiving little to no help from teammates.
Allen admits that the surgeries have played a role in his offseason. He has not been able to do any sort of bench press exercises or any squatting while he was healing. He believes that it has impacted his confidence entering training camp since he feels behind on the conditioning front compared to other players.
"I wouldn't say it's a good experience, just because of the fact I hate surgery," Allen said. "But I'll tell you what - this is the best I've felt in years."
Allen currently ranks 16th on the NFL's all-time sack list with 117 on his career. He is just 83 sacks shy of Bruce Smith's record for the most in his career. The defensive end believes that getting the single-season record is certainly reachable if he stays healthy and active. Allen will have a little more motivation this year since he is in the final year of his current contract with the Vikings.
